Hilo-born chef/restaurateur Sheldon Simeon was named Wednesday to the short list of finalists by the James Beard Foundation for its prestigious Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific. He is one of five chefs to be nominated for the award, which covers the states of Hawaii, Alaska, Washington and Oregon.
The 39-year-old Simeon and his wife, Janice, own and operate Tin Roof in Kahului, Maui, a lunch shop which serves an elevated yet accessible version of local-style plate lunches and poke bowls.
Simeon, a Hilo High School graduate, is a two-time finalist and fan favorite on Bravo TV’s “Top Chef.” In addition, his cookbook, “Cook Real Hawai‘i” — co-written with Garrett Snyder — still boasts strong sales a year after publication.
Only one other Hawaii chef, Robynne Maii of Fête in Honolulu, made the final list of nominees for the award. The others were: Matsugo Soma of Kamonegi in Seattle; and Carlo Lamagna of Magna Kusina and Thomas Pisha-Duffly of Oma’s Hideaway, both in Portland, Ore.
Another Hilo-born chef, Mark Pomaski, who owns and operates Moon and Turtle Restaurant in Hilo with wife Soni, was named with Simeon as a semifinalist for the award last month. In addition, Brian Hirata, chef/owner of Na‘au, a Hilo-based pop-up fine dining operation with hyper-local sourcing, was named a semifinalist for the Emerging Chef award.
Winners of the James Beard Awards — dubbed “the Oscars of the food world” by Time magazine — will be celebrated at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on June 13 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.